Hope Diamond Photos (Exclusive Unset!)
Did you know that the Hope Diamond, for the first time since it joined the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in 1958, is displayed unset? That’s right, the world-famous gigantic, 46 carat deep-blue grey diamond, is finally on display in its natural beauty. Sitting on a rotating pedestal inside a cylinder of 3-inch bulletproof glass, you can find it next to the main exhibit in the National Gem Collection.
Close up of the Hope Diamond
The rotating pedestal
Another angle of the gem, different facets
From the other side, again!
The platinum setting, composed of 16 white pear-shaped and cushion-cut diamonds, and a chain of forty-five diamonds. The Hope will return to its traditional setting in late 2010.
For more information about the long history of the Hope Diamond, check out the wikipedia article. Its origins, shrouded in theft and mystery, are a fascinating read! If you liked this post, leave a comment, and perhaps I’ll post photos of the Wittelsbach-Graff Diamond, also on display in the Smithsonian.
Ghost Goblets: Wine Glasses inside Tumblers
You have to check out these wine glasses from Cocktail Vibe. A set of four handblown glasses can be bought for just $74.95; the unique design features a glass sculpture holding your drink inside of a clear tumber; absolutely unique!
I know the above reads like ad copy, but these are the most innovative glasses I’ve seen in a while. SO COOL!!
Summize: Web 2.0 Rankings Aggregator
Thanks to the often useless Techcrunch for pointing out Summize, a meta-rankings engine with a gorgeous, hip look:
It’s perfect in the way it rates Windows Vista as utter crap, and the Apple iPhone as delicious but flawed. Topically, they focus mostly on Books, Movies, and Music–the classic media triplet–but other products are present as well. In a blog post About Summize they explain the drive behind the site:
We currently provide a Summize Experience for Electronics, Cameras, Books, Movies, Toys, and other useful things you find at Amazon and other top caliber review sites. We provide clean, straightforward, un-duplicated results so you don’t have to piece together the information on your own.
The only problem–people are going to misspell its name as “summarize.”